I suffer from chronic abdominal pain and this blog is my way of expressing how I feel whilst reaching out to others who suffer the same burden. Pain is isolating and intolerable and yet somehow those of us who suffer must find a way to move forward.

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

At Least the Sun is Shining.....

I always find it easier to be positive when the sun is out in the morning. Trying to get out of bed and face the pain seems harder when the skies are grey and its looks cold and damp. Sunshine on the other hand makes me want to grab the day. So I find that on sunny mornings like today, I get out of bed and get myself ready with a smile which lasts at least until the pain starts (and sometimes beyond).Today, I skipped breakfast. The thinking behind this was that as my pain normally gets into gear around 10am, and I usually (whilst at home and not working anyway) breakfast at about 9.30.....ergo maybe food is what is causing the pain.All that this experiment got me was the usual pain and hunger to boot! Epic fail. The pain is not related to my breakfast.Yesterday I was firmly of the view that I have IBS (I swing backwards and forwards on this in the absence of any firm diagnosis) but today, I am more minded to think that the pain is psychological. I suspect that my brain is so used to feeling pain in the mornings, that it kind of tells my body to do it. And I must admit, I do almost wait for it to start - so maybe I am thinking the pain into existence?There's a whole load of research on this that supports my theory - what I am less clear on is how to re-train my brain to concentrate on something a bit less painful.So - pain levels today topped at about 7/10 - pretty bad by recent standards although a huge improvement on yesterday which was off the scale awful. Oh.....and lunch never tasted so good!